𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Russia “doesn’t need to invade Britain” to wreak havoc and plunge the country into chaos, a former Defence Secretary has warned. Sir Grant Shapps warned “the next attack” may “look like an ordinary Monday morning when everything suddenly stops working”.

And he said plots against Britain’s “electricity supplies, hospitals, banking systems, water networks and communications” should be considered alongside discussions about the strength of Britain’s Armed Forces.

The head of the army, General Sir Roly Walker, warned soldiers that the country will need them to fight in a war given the “extreme jeopardy in the world at the moment”.

He warned that “very soon” political leaders would have a “frank conversation” with ordinary citizens about how they needed to get ready. But Sir Grant said the threat is wider than that posed by traditional warfare.

He said: “Here’s the fundamental question: we spend a great deal of time debating whether Britain has enough missiles, aircraft, warships and troops to defend itself. And rightly so, because there are serious concerns about our military readiness.

“Yet are we devoting anything like the same attention to defending our electricity supplies, hospitals, banking systems, water networks and communications?

“The next attack on Britain may not look like the start of a war. It may look like an ordinary Monday morning when everything suddenly stops working.”

In an alarming assessment of the nation’s defences, Mr Shapps added: “Russia doesn’t need to invade Britain to threaten Britain.

“When I warned in 2024 that we had entered a pre-war world, it wasn’t simply about the prospect of tanks crossing European borders. Russia has developed ways to threaten our security without triggering a conventional military response.

“Cyberattacks, sabotage, disruption to energy supplies and attacks on critical infrastructure can all cause enormous damage without a shot being fired.”

Ministers are set to deliver a series of statements to the public about building resilience in society. MI5 Director General Sir Ken McCallum said: “To keep ourselves safe, we need our nation – our people, our businesses, our communities – to be clear-eyed about the more contested world we now live in; but also confident in our ability to resist the pressures our adversaries try to put us under.

“You should expect to hear more from government in the coming months on how we can all be more resilient.”

Ministers also plan to explain why tens of billions of pounds need to be diverted from other departments to pay for an increasing defence budget.

General Sir Roly Walker warned his soldiers: “They’re going to try and explain to our citizens that our citizens have got to consent to sacrifices to prioritise defence and security. And then, they’re going to ask those citizens, for whom we are not necessarily at the front of their mind, that they too need to play a part in the defence and security of this country.

“They need to understand what we do for them; they need to consent to allow us to do that — which means sacrifices by them — and ultimately, we’re going to need them to back us, to back you, to do the one thing that you do, that nobody else gets to do, and that is to take the fight to the enemy.

“There is no other environment to my mind where the burden of fighting is placed squarely on the shoulders of our most inexperienced and junior soldiers than in our land forces.

“And I’m looking at you because it’s on you that the defence of this nation will rest, if ultimately, you are called to fight.”

It comes amid an extraordinary diplomatic row over Ukraine, and Kyiv’s access to the Starlink satellite system owned by tech tycoon Elon Musk.

Kyiv’s military commanders said the US decision to throttle access to the network, which allows them to shoot down incoming Russian missiles and drones, is leading to civilian deaths.

Mr Musk denied responsibility for limiting Starlink access, blaming the White House. He claimed that “any limits on speed or usage” were “decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS”, referring to Mr Trump.

However, after what was described as a “night of carnage” in Kyiv due to the blackout, a senior source said Mr Musk had been alarmed by the possibility of adverse consumer reaction in Europe.

Health Secretary Yvette Cooper said the UK would continue increasing pressure on Moscow despite Mr Trump’s decision to halt a package of sanctions that had been due to come into effect on Sunday.

Former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said: “I think this week Donald Trump has shown himself as a person to be repulsive; as a President of the United States to be a disgrace to his own people as well as to his international responsibilities.

“We all know his actual reasons for this are a grubby attempt to win a few more votes in the midterms by trying to get oil prices down.

“In order to achieve that, he has not only betrayed Ukraine in the middle of a war, fighting for its very existence, but he is also directly – not indirectly – directly responsible for the deaths of many Ukrainians who will not now be protected by the attempts that have been successfully made using intelligence provided indirectly by the United States.”